...flashy goods, materialism. I myself have first-hand experience of materialism and the negative effects that our society brings with it. I remember in high school, more specifically sophomore year, I was lucky and thankful enough to be the recipient of a substantial gift from my parents. For my 16th birthday they gifted me with a $15,000 check and said to spend it wisely. I could not believe it, I was so ecstatic and shocked I had no idea what to do. After a few days of careful consideration, I finally decided buying a car would be the best investment at the time. I did what most people do and bought myself a car, a BMW. Little did I know that the BMW would come with negative judgments from my high school peers. In the eyes of my peers I was known as the rich snobby kid who used his parents’ money to buy himself a flashy BMW to boast about. I was placed into a virtual social class of sort, being “better than everyone.” I was viewed as a selfish show-off, called rude and unwanted names just because of the car I owned. But this could not be farther from the truth. In no way did I feel better than anyone else, nor did I ever boast about having a fairly decent car for my age. But of course in our society, what I said did not matter, everyone judged me by the car I drove. I was left with feelings of sadness, dissatisfaction, and disappointment. I almost wanted to sell my car because I knew that would be the only way to make the judgments disappear. In James Twitchell’s Two Cheers for Materialism...
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